


Don't You Leave Me Brokenhearted

by balancingprecariouslyontheedge



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Sad, but happy end, more old fics whoop, valentine's fic I think, zayn centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-09
Updated: 2015-04-09
Packaged: 2018-03-22 03:08:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3712531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/balancingprecariouslyontheedge/pseuds/balancingprecariouslyontheedge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>*previously on tumblr*</p><p>A date to "keep up the image" ends in a horrible fall out and Zayn alone and miserable. Perrie does damage control.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't You Leave Me Brokenhearted

**Author's Note:**

> I'm almost done shifting all my pics from tumblr, and then I'll be back to writing new, hopefully better stuff. Until then, enjoy!!

“Bye Pez,” Zayn whispered as he pressed a small kiss to Perrie’s cheek. She pulled away and playfully punched him in the shoulder.  
“Bye, you big romantic sucker.” Zayn stuck his tongue out at her, hearing the few snaps and flashes of reporters rapidly taking photos. Perrie grinned and stepped closer.  
“You are a big romantic sucker, though. You’d think I was actually your girlfriend.” She said thoughtfully, running her fingers over his jacket, over the spot where she’d been tattooed. Zayn smiled.  
“What can I say? Your just so beautiful, at least to Modest.” She pretended to gag and he pulled her into one last embrace.  
“Text me when you get home, yeah?” He asked, and the blonde nodded.  
“You might be a bit… preoccupied, though.” She quipped, wiggling her eyebrows and grinning cheekily.  
“Shut up,” Zayn replied half- heartedly, tickling her behind her neck which reduced her to giggling mess and helped down play the blush that was creeping up his cheeks.  
“St..stop!” Perrie pleaded, trying to get away from his merciless fingers. He obliged, and she let out a sigh of relief.  
“Send the girls my love and all that,” Zayn said, and she nodded. As they headed off in their separate directions, she called,  
“Happy Valentine’s Day!”  
Zayn fondly shook his head as he climbed into his car and drove home. He loved that girl to pieces, but she was more like his best friend than a lover. That place in his heart was already taken by four other idiots whom he loved to the moon and back. He’d fallen for them so hard, he doubted he could ever fall again. That’s why Zayn was so eager to get home and spend the rest of Valentine’s Day with his boyfriends. His Niall, Louis, Liam, and Harry.  
These were the thoughts that ran through Zayn’s head as he quickly unlocked the front door.  
“I’m home!” he called out happily. Silence was the response. No shrieks of glee or play fights. For once, the household was eerily still and silent. The usual pleasant aroma of Harry’s delicious baking and cooking that usual filled the house wasn’t there.  
Confused, Zayn wandered into the kitchen and saw that, aside from the piles of dirty dishes in the sink, everything was relatively clean and there was nothing on the stove. That was strange, considering Harry had been going on and on all week about he was planning the most amazing Valentine’s Day dinner ever. The sound of the front door being unlocked pulled Zayn out of his thoughts, and he warily walked back into the foyer. Liam walked in, shaking his head. He was followed by Louis and Niall, both laughing loudly at something stupid that Harry had said. The curly haired boy walked in last, closing the door lightly behind him.

His boyfriends stood in the foyer, giggling. Niall’s boisterous voice filled the room.

“The food there was amazing. Why don’t we go there more often?” Liam chuckled and ruffled his hair.

“You say that ‘bout every place we eat, Nialler.” Niall just shrugged and Harry and Louis laughed. Zayn was slightly confused.

“Where were you guys?” he asked, dreading the answer. That seemed to make the boys finally notice his presence.

All of the boys looked at him indifferently, and Niall was the one who spoke.  
“We could ask you the same?” Zayn was slightly taken aback by his cold voice.  
“I was, um, with Perrie. Modest wanted it. But you knew that,” There was a small hurt undertone to his words. Niall glowered at him.  
“We knew you were with her. Who said Modest wanted it?” Zayn cowered slightly, but none of his boyfriends’ glares softened.  
“But they did. Something about reinforcing the image. You lads knew that, though. She’s just my friend. I love you guys.” Desperation was discernible in his voice. Niall took another menacing step forward.  
“Is she?” He challenged, and Zayn could tell this had been building up over a long time, and that his other boyfriends were angry too. His silence seemed to infuriate them more, and this time, Louis walked to stand next to Niall.  
“Lately, every single damn time you go out, it's with Perrie,” he spat out her name venomously, “You parade that cunt around like a trophy and none of us are fucking stupid. We’ve all seen our fair share of pictures, and we’ve seen the way you look at the ugly bitch. You obviously love her, and if you want out of this relationship, fucking say something instead of acting like a slut.”  
Every single word acted as a knife slashing at Zayn’s bruised and battered heart. His brain was still trying to soak in the harsh words that his own boyfriends had said to him. Tears prickled in his eyes and Zayn made no move to wipe them away, still shocked at what was happening. But, apparently, his boyfriends weren’t finished tearing his heart to pieces.  
“When you told us that you were going out with her, on Valentine’s Day on top of that, Harry said he didn’t want to make dinner if it wasn’t for all of us. He was afraid you didn’t love us anymore, and that you were leaving us for Perrie. So we all went out and ate.” At the end of Liam’s mini speech, Harry buried his face in Liam’s chest, and Liam hugged him close, glaring coldly at a teary eyed Zayn. The poor lad had no idea how long this had been building up and it hurt. It hurt really bad, because these boys were supposed to know him better than anyone else, but now here they were accusing him if loving one of his best friends. A fucking girl on top if that. He was fucking gay.  
Zayn looked at his boyfriends, and noticed the three gift bags they were each holding. Niall followed his gaze and snarked, “We got gifts for the ones who actually contribute and give a damn about this relationship.” A small sob was stuck in the back of Zayn’s throat but he didn’t let it out as he looked sadly at his gifts for them that sat on the small table next to the door. Or, they did. Louis swung his arm out a bit to wide to be accidental, and knocked them all off the table with a loud crash. This had Zayn seeing red because honestly? He hadn’t done anything and they knew management had set him up with Perrie. These were his boyfriends, for crying out loud.  
“Fuck you!” He shouted, startling all of the boys into listening to him. “Fuck you if you think I love Perrie. She’s my friend. I’m fucking gay!” Tears streamed down Zayn’s face in rivers as he shoved past his stunned boyfriends, grabbed his car key, and left, slamming the door hard enough to shake the entire house.  
Zayn scrambled into his car and jabbed the keys in the ignition, not caring where he was going as long as it was away.  
He drove in a way he knew wasn’t safe, but that hardly mattered, considering that his boyfriends didn’t love him anymore. Zayn swerved and the tears in his eyes and his wet sobs made it hard to drive properly.

Zayn found himself knocking on a familiar door, not having any idea how he’d driven there because the grief was honestly just too overwhelming. A faint shout of coming followed by footstep answered his knock.

“Zayn?” Perrie’s soft voice asked. He forced himself to look up through his tears from the ground and at her. She got one good look at his face and yanked him into a bone-crushing hug. It felt comforting and that had him reduced to heaving sobs because Zayn really wanted his boyfriends to be holding him right now. Perrie understood something was really off, so she carefully maneuvered both of them into her living room and onto her couch. Zayn buried his head in the crook of her neck, his tears soaking the top of her shirt. That was the least of her concerns at the moment though.

Once it seemed like Zayn’s tears had slowed slightly, she asked gently,

“What happened, baby?” The distraught boy took a deep breath in an attempt to compose himself.

He then explained exactly what had happened from the second he got home through stutters, snot, and tears. When he got to the part where Niall called Perrie an ‘ugly bitch,’ she clenched her fists but didn’t say anything. The second he had finished his story, Perrie pulled him closer than he thought possible and whispered sweet nothings in his ear to help reduce the tears that had restarted to fall.

“You’re staying with this ‘ugly bitch’ until those bastards get down on their knees and beg you for forgiveness.” The smallest smile appeared on Zayn’s lips, betraying his mood. It almost immediately disappeared, as the events from earlier moved to squash the tiniest bit of happiness that dared to enter his thoughts.

They stayed on the couch for another hour, Perrie absentmindedly turning on some football game. The commentary of the footie game was nothing more than a soft murmur in the background as Zayn quietly sobbed into the crook of Perrie’s neck. The blond haired girl rubbed his back soothingly while carding her manicured fingers through his hair.  
“Zee, we didn’t really eat after lunch when we went on our date. Do you want to eat anything now?” She inquired softly, frowning when the distraught boy shook his head and buried his head further into her neck.  
“Not hungry,” he mumbled, voice muffled. After a few minutes, Perrie spoke again.  
“How ‘bout we get you to the guest room, hm? It’s getting late and you could definitely use some sleep.” Zayn pulled himself off of Perrie and she gently helped him up. He let her guide him to the guest room and help him into bed.  
“It’ll be alright, Zaynie. Just rest.” She placed a chaste kiss on his forehead and left the room, clicking to lights off in her way out.  
All night, Zayn tossed and turned, throwing the blanket off and pulling it back on. He hadn’t slept without his boyfriends ever since they’d gotten together on the X Factor unless he was in Bradford. Zayn hadn’t realized how much he depended on those four other boys to lull him to sleep at night, all cuddling. Around two in the morning, he got so damn frustrated because he couldn’t seem to get comfortable and he was hot and cold at the same time. The blanket and sheets were nothing short of suffocating and finally, Zayn gave up and shakily got out of bed. He made his way out of the room and down the hall on wobbly legs. Quietly pulling open another door, Zayn walked over to the bed in the middle of the large bedroom. Perrie’s sleeping form stirred as he sat on the edge of her bed.  
“Zayn?” She asked groggily, exhaustion dripping off of her words. When she noticed the small boy’s quivering lower lip and his shaky body, she sat up, holding herself up with her elbows.  
“Are you alright?” Concern laced her words.  
“Can’t sleep,” he whimpered pitifully, and Perrie’s heart broke. Holding her arms open, she whispered,  
“C'mere babe.” Zayn gratefully climbed into her waiting arms and snuggled close to her. Perrie wrapped her arms around his waist. A few stray tears slipped down his face and she wiped them away. Nothing was said, and soon Perrie soft, feminine snores filled the room. It took Zayn a bit longer to fall asleep, because as much as he lived Perrie, she wasn’t his boyfriends. His sleeps were usually filled with LouisNiallHarryLiam, and Perrie was smaller and the wrong gender. But her comforting presence helped slightly, and soon he dropped of to a fitful slumber.

Zayn woke up the next morning to an empty and the first thing he thought was the boys are probably already downstairs and—he cut himself off as the everything that had gone down yesterday came back to him. Harsh reality washed over him until he was drowning in the realization that his beloved boyfriends didn’t love him anymore. A few tears poked at his eyes and Zayn harshly wiped them away. I won’t cry. I will not cry. He groped around the bed until he found a sticky note on Perrie’s pillow.

At an interview with the girls. Should be back soon. Breakfast is on the table. You can use some of Jonnie’s clothes that he left here. Check in my third dresser drawer. Luff you xxx Pez

Zayn allowed himself a small smile at the thought of his friend before it almost instantly faded. He went through his morning routine almost robotically. Everything seemed so dull, all black and white with out the constant shouts and laughter of Niall and Louis, with Liam’s scolding mixing in and the warming scent of Harry’s amazing cooking wafting through the house. His heart used to beat in time to the constant thrum of HarryLouisNiallLiam, but now it seemed as if he were nothing more than a shell of his former self. Zayn found himself a bit scared on how much he needed four other boy like he needed air and food.

Sitting in front of the table, Zayn wasn’t hungry. The prospect of food seemed unimportant compared to everything else. He pushed the plate back and stared into space for a few minutes. Suddenly, his phone rang.

Zayn stared at his phone, watching Niall’s face light up. He wanted so badly to hear their voices, even if they wanted to yell at him. They don’t love you anymore, Zayn reminded himself, but somehow he still found his finger sliding over the green button instead of the read. He sucked his breath as he heard Niall’s voice ring out through Perrie’s kitchen.

“Hello?” The familiar Irish brogue had him almost reduced to tears.

“Zayn? Are you there?!” Niall’s voice sounded panic, and Zayn honestly had no idea why. He then yelled to someone in the background.

“He picked up but he won’t say anything!” There were the sound of a scuffle and Zayn could only hear snippets of what the boys were shouting at each other.

“Give me the—“

“ I need—“

“—Louis you twat—“

“What—“

“Zayn I—“

Nothing really made since but his heart was beating so loud he was surprised the boys couldn’t hear it. Until Zayn heard something that made his heart stop beating all together.

“I hate you.” A loud clang resounded through the flat as his mobile hit the floor. Zayn could faintly hear the distant sounds of their panicky voices but that didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. Nothing fucking mattered because they hated him. Zayn took a shuddery breath as the words soaked through his brain, consuming him until all he could see were different scenes of the boys yelling horrible words and him, screaming until he down on his knees, cowering and begging for mercy and they hated him. At this point, Zayn was practically on the verge of hyperventilating but he was beyond the point where he gave a shit about his health. He knew that they were mad and that they didn’t like him but they hated him. The word spun in rapid circles as he dizzily stood up holding onto the wall for support as full-blown sobs wracked his body and rendered him completely useless. Useless. That was exactly how Zayn felt as he stumbled into Perrie’s guest room and fumbled with the knob, trying to lock the door through his blotchy, tear-filled vision. He collapsed face first on the bed and just cried. He felt as if he was drowning in an ocean of worthlessness. They hated him. Harry, Liam, Louis, and Niall hated him. His boyfriends hated him.

He remained in the room for the next few days, pulling in and out of sleep. Every single call, text message and voice mail went unanswered, as did every single shout and scream of concern from Perrie, even when she threatened to break down the door, and even worse, she threatened to call his mother. Zayn felt absolutely freezing, but the heat radiating from his skin made even him feel slightly concerned about his health. He hadn’t eaten in three day and his borrowed clothes were hanging off his limbs. He was completely out of tears, but he couldn’t seem to stop crying.

“Zayn?” Perrie, strong, dirty-minded and mouthed Perrie, sounded slightly tearful. “Zayn, please let me in. Let me know you’re alive. That you’re okay.”

“I’m not,” The small voice was so quiet and Perrie had to press here ear tightly against the door.

“Zee,” she begged, “Say that again.”

Zayn’s voice was dry and raspy, and it sent broken glass down his throat when he spoke. But he answered her nonetheless. She deserved that much.

“I’m not okay, Perrie.”  
She winced at the pained sound of his voice.

“Could you please open the door, babe?” she pressed. The sound of stumbling and someone falling against the door had her very worried, but she kept her calm as Zayn clumsily tried to unlock the door.

Perrie sucked in her breath at the sight of Zayn. His hair flopped down, sticking to his in clumps. Beads of sweat covered his forehead and she could practically feel the heat radiating off him. His cheekbones were much more prominent and is cheeks were hollowed. His skin was pale, with a reddish tint. His posture looked so defeated that the blonde wanted nothing more than to swaddle him up in blankets and hide him from the world. Everything about him screamed sick to Perrie, and to say she was worried was an underestimate. She pulled him into an embrace, careful not to hold him too tight in fear that he might break.  
“Oh Zayn,” she breathed, a few tears traveling down her face and mixing with his. She pressed a kiss to his forehead.  
“My clothes would be big on you. Are you trying to make me look fat?” She whispered, trying vainly to lighten the mood. The corner of Zayn’s lips curved into the smallest, most heartbreaking smile she’d ever seen. They almost immediately dropped down, back to their sad look, as if was too much effort to keep them up.  
“You’re ill,” Perrie stated, holding him at arms length. She was met with silence, so she pulled him into her living room and tucked him in on the couch. She went into the kitchen, mumbling something about medicine and proper food.  
Zayn just stared into space, until his phone buzzed from where Perrie had placed it on the coffee table. It took a bit of effort, but he grabbed it. 213 unread messages. 158 missed call. 97 voice mails. Almost all of them from the boys. Thumbing through them, he read,  
'Zayn, please please answer. We need you.’  
“Give us a chance.’  
'We’re sorry.’  
'Please pick up.’  
'We miss you.’  
Zayn didn’t allow himself to read on, choosing instead to chuck his phone across the room and watch with sick pleasure as it hit the wall and slid to the ground with a thud. Perrie walked in just in time to witness it, carrying a tray with soup, water, and medicine. She didn’t say anything, placing the tray on the coffee table and helping him sit up. Handing him a glass of water, she said, "Drink it. You need as much proper nourishing as you can get. If you don’t cooperate, I’m calling your mum to mother hen you to death. Though, I might call her anyway.” Zayn groaned, the cool liquid helping to soothe his burning throat. Perrie chuckled. After a few minutes of silence, Zayn spoke.  
“They hate me.” Perrie spit out the tea she’d been drinking, coughing and spluttering before she looked at him.  
“What?”  
“The boys. They hate me. They called me and told me so themselves.ー” Perrie looked confused for a moment, before she processed his words and stared at him.  
“Those assholes called?” she seethed, and Zayn quietly explained to her what happened as she helped him drink some soup. A few tears trickled down his face as he finished up, and Perrie looked angry. Massively pissed off was a more accurate description.  
“They had the fucking nerve…” she hissed through gritted teeth, before swallowed her anger when Zayn looked at her almost fearfully. Her heart went out to the poor boy, and she promised herself she’d fix this as much as she could.  
“Have a bit more soup, then you can try to sleep. I don’t think you’ve slept since you came here, babe.” Zayn nodded tiredly, and Perrie practically spoon fed the fragile, exhausted boy. By the time the bowl was half full, Zayn had fallen asleep. Perrie had put a bit of cough syrup in to help, because she had a feeling that he couldn’t sleep normally without his boyfriends. She patted his hair and kissed his nose, then walked into the kitchen. Plopping down in a chair, Perrie sighed. As much as she wanted to go beat the crap out of four certain boys, she didn’t want to leave Zayn. A buzz from her mobile interrupted her thoughts. It was a text from Jade.  
how’s everything w/ z?x  
Perrie rapidly typed a response.  
not good. want 2 beat the shite out of the boys but don’t wanna leave him.  
Jade replied almost instantly.  
go. if u did the cough syrup thing he’ll b out for a while. if ur not home in a hr txt me and i’ll drop by to make sure he’s alright.  
Smiling slight, Perrie texted,  
aren’t u going out w/ sam tonite?;-)  
correction, i’ll get leigh ann to check on him;-)xxx g'luck and beat them up xtra for moi. send z my love  
Perrie chuckled before making her mind up on the fly. She slipped on her shoes and flew out of the flat.  
She didn’t remember much of the drive there, only that she’d been rehearsing what she would say to the boys when she got their.  
Not bothering with being polite, Perrie pounded on the door, shouted, “YOU BETTER FUCKING OPEN THIS DOOR, OR SO HELP ME…” A few moments later, a drained looking Louis opened the door, looking surprised that she was standing there.  
“Perrie? What are you–” he was cut off when Perrie slapped him upside the face so hard, a loud 'thwack’ was heard. Louis didn’t look very surprised that she’d slapped him, but he rubbed the hand shaped bruise forming on his cheek.  
“I deserved that,” He stated.  
“And much more, asshole. Now get the others down here before I strangle you.” Perrie demanded vehemently.  
“Wouldn’t you do that anyway?” He asked cheekily, and she glowered at him.  
“I’ll do it to Harry first and make you watch if the others aren’t here in five seconds.” Fear flashed across Louis’s face when he saw she was dead serious.  
“LADS!” He shouted,. Perrie tapped her foot impatiently. The sound of feet thundering down the stairs filled the air for a few seconds. Then Liam came into view, Harry and Niall stumbling behind him. They were about as surprised as Louis was that she was here. But, taking a good look at them, any practiced lines Perrie was going to say slipped from her mind as she blurted out, “You lot look like shit.” It was true. None were as bad as Zayn, but purple lines were visible under all their eyes. Harry’s curly hair laid limp on his head. Liam was squeezed into one of Zayn’s shirts. Louis was wearing his glasses. Niall had his hair pushed back in a beanie.  
“Gee, thanks.” Louis said sarcastically. Perrie gave him a warning look.  
“What are you doing here, Perrie?” Liam asked tiredly, and she felt a small wave of anger overtake her.  
“This 'ugly bitch,’” Niall winced at that, “is here to tell you that your fucking boyfriend is practically dying on my couch.” Perrie literally watched some life fly back into the lad, making them instantly more alert.  
“What do you mean?” Harry asked frantically, and the blond haired spit fire restrained herself from punching him in the face.  
“Oh, I don’t fucking know. Something like he showed up at my flat four days ago and cried for hours. Then he locked himself in the guest bedroom and didn’t fucking eat or sleep for three days. At least you bastards have each other! I tried, but I’m not you and he’s really sick. So you better get your shit together, your pricks. Before you lose an absolutely amazing person.” All the boys’ jaws had hit the floor and their eyes were huge. Perrie huffed, flipped them off, and stalked out of the house.  
She clutched the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white, anger radiating off of her. They had barely said a word, and Perrie honestly wondered why Zayn stuck around.  
But, she wasn’t very surprised when not even an hour later, there was a loud pounding on her door. Perrie checked to make sure Zayn was still asleep before slowly making her way to the door. She didn’t even look at who it was.  
“You're late.” She declared harshly, glaring at them. The boys winced. They’d fucked up really bad to get laidback, carefree Perrie mad at them.

“C’mon,” she said briskly, leading them into the living room where Zayn was tossing and turning, fighting off his invisible demons. Perrie’s sharp look softened slightly, and when she looked up at them, her face was sad.

“He hasn’t slept properly since he came. The only reason he’s sleeping now is because I put cough syrup in his soup. He hasn’t eaten either.”

They all gazed at Zayn sorrowfully until Perrie remembered she was supposed to be mad at them.

“You fucked up really, really bad. Fix it, or I’ll beat the living daylights out of the lot of you.” Her fiery stare left them no doubt that she would do it.

Slowly, one by one, the boys all piled on top of the couch, some part of them touching their poorly boyfriend. That seemed to soothe him somewhat, and Zayn movements became less jerky, until he was only trembling slightly. Perrie had left the room to give them privacy, and soon enough, Zayn was sleeping peacefully. It was as if the mere presence of his boyfriends calmed him down. Liam sighed from where he was squished next to Zayn.

“We messed up, lads.” Noises of agreement were heard.

“But we’ll fix it.” Harry declared. A shuffling noise from somewhere in their midst brought their attention to Zayn.

His eyes fluttered open, and he squinted at the sudden brightness.

“B..boys?” The fear in his eyes had all the boy’s near tears.

“Oh Zaynie, we’re so so sorry and–“ Liam was cut off by Zayn scrambling off the couch, teary-eyed with the tell tale signs of a fever making him look even more pitiful.  
“P..please d..don’t l…l..lie. I know y..you h…hate me.” He had back up against the wall, and all of his boyfriend kept a safe distance away in order to not panic him. Harry took a hesitant step forward.

“Please believe us. We’ll do anything, anything at all to have you back. We’re so sorry. We really messed up, Zayn. And we want to fix this. Please.” The curly haired boy’s pleas seemed to waver Zayn’s resolve in the smallest bit.

“B..but the tattoo—“

“We were being assholes. I think we all knew about management, but we were just so stressed with the tour and rumors and…yeah.” Louis trailed off, and Niall picked up.

“I know that doesn’t excuse what we did, but we really, really want to make it up you. If you’ll let us, that is.” Liam was the most daring, and he slowly walked until he was right in front of Zayn.

“Zayn, we are so, so, so sorry. We were right dicks, and we realize that. Please, please let us make it up to you. Show we care.” That seemed to crumble Zayn’s resolve.

“A..alright. I’m not s..sure if I can exactly forgive you yet, but I guess I’m willing to let you try.” He said cautiously, and that was all the encouragement his boyfriends needed to rush forward and wrap him up in their arms.

Zayn tentatively rested his head on Liam’s shoulder, and could practically feel the love radiating off of the boys.

“We love you, Zayn.” Niall murmured.

 

And Zayn didn’t doubt it.


End file.
